The Mama Cass Television Program
Since her untimely death in 1974 Mama Cass Elliot has passed into legend and become a pop culture icon strongly identified with the hippie, trippy 1960s. Her powerful singing voice, buoyant music, outrageous costumes, charm and humor made her one of the most beloved performers of the era and she remains so today.
She was also the first of her generation of hippie freak singers to cross over from the counter culture into mainstream show business and be perfectly comfortable in both worlds.with numerous solo TV appearances and specials.
However finding Cass on DVD requires a lot of searching so the newly discovered and remastered DVD of the 1969 Mama Cass Television Program is a welcome treat. The show is pretty standard TV variety special fare for the late 60s with a big star (Cass) a couple musical guests (Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers, John Sebastian) and a couple odd skits with mainstream show biz folks (Buddy Hackett, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain).
You can see the network producers thinking that with this standard format they have their entire demographic audience profiles covered so everyone out there in TV land would tune in and watch the show. Something for everyone, no matter how odd the mix.
With this Cass TV special, which was done as a pilot for a proposed series, you pretty much get Cass and her show biz friends fooling around and singing and having fun and, because it’s Cass, it all seems a bit off the wall and funny. This show often comes across like a spoof of a TV special rather than the real thing.
Even given the psychedelic fashion craze of the era most of the costumes Cass wears on this show would make even Mimi from the Drew Carey Show blush. You will find yourself gasping in horror and wondering "what on earth is she wearing now?" One of her dresses in particular looks as if the costume designer took an entire carousel and turned it into a dress. And yet somehow she manages to rise above even the most insane costumes by the sheer charisma and power of her personality. After all this is Mama Cass!
What makes this DVD well worth watching is the music. Cass’ singing is over the moon especially in the final sequence where she does a medley of Mamas and Papa’s songs by herself and manages to outshine the original recordings. Joni Mitchell is on hand with a heavenly version of ’Both Sides Now’ and Mary Travers (Peter, Paul & Mary) sings a powerful solo version of the Laura Nyro song ’And When I Die’. Then the three ladies sit around swapping verses on a medley of songs in a once in a lifetime musical summit. The rest of the show may be forgettable but this sequence is the stuff of legends. And good ole’ John Sebastian is his usual friendly, charming self singing a bunch of his songs as Cass sits nearby smiling with love and admiration for her buddy. Sebastian as always, is the guy you want to hug and hang out with. He is also featured in a short extra feature interview talking about Cass and their long friendship. The DVD also has an extra feature with a hilarious duet of Sammy Davis Jr. and Cass doing a medley of rock and roll songs.
The less said about the Martin Landau and Barbara Bain sequence the better and thanks to the fact that this is a DVD you can just fast forward through it. Cass and Buddy Hackett get along famously and seem to really enjoy goofing around with each other so their sequences are worth watching.
Being fat was as much a part of the Cass legend as her music. However it its interesting to see that during the final sequence of the program Cass wears a simple dark blue pants and jacket outfit and its clear to see that she really wasn’t that fat. During the sequence she is singing and dancing around and her slightly plump physical size is in clear view, which is totally masked by the psychedelic tent costumes she wears during the rest of the show.
So if you know anyone who needs an introduction to Mama Cass this is the DVD to get.
